Taking care of others shouldn’t be a lost priority when companies are having trouble taking care of themselves. It’s as important as ever for companies to be engaged with the communities where they work, said Robert Fung, president of real estate developer Salient Developments Ltd.

“We need now, even more than before, to support communities,” he said.

December 3rd, 2008

Robert Fung and the Revival of GastownBC Business Magazine
by Joel Bentley

Robert Fung – the Salient Group developer and subject of this month’s profile, “Old Soul” – is restoring a series of heritage buildings in Vancouver’s Gastown.

Synthesizing modern architecture with traditional building frames and 100-year-old windows, Fung has designed a series of interconnected buildings housing condos, studios and commercial spaces.

I visited Fung onsite at two of his projects, the Paris Block and the Terminus. Fung graciously spent an early November afternoon showing me around his sites as I captured footage. The architecture is elegant, and the buildings exude a respect for their past.

With these Water Street recreations, Fung is inspiring developers to revive a sustainable community in the heart of Gastown.

December 1st, 2008

On a bright September morning, developer Robert Fung steps out of the temporary Water Street entrance to the Salient Group’s Gastown offices. A cement mixer parked flush against the heritage storefront grinds noisily. Fung strides past the lone tourist pointing her cellphone at Gassy Jack, past the police officer in white latex gloves and surgical mask investigating an overnight break-in, and crosses Carrall Street to enter another heritage building. This one is in the final stages of conversion to a coffee bar called the Salty Tongue. Traversing the length of the narrow room is a single table, a scarred wooden beam salvaged during the building’s restoration.